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Tag Archives: Winsor & Newton Cotman Watercolours

With Halloween fast approaching I thought I’d have some fun and create this happy page to celebrate! I’m also pleased to be joining some of my favourite blog challenges which have inspired me to create this Tricks ‘n’ Treats page – Thank You!

I started by covering the background with Light Red Winsor & Newton watercolour paint using a baby wipe and then I splattered some black DecoArt acrylic paint using a paintbrush to add lots of texture and interest. I watered down some Pébéo white gesso and splattered that onto the page too; I like the way these dots have a spooky translucency to them. I tore some black cobweb decoupage paper from Dovecraft into three pieces and stuck them onto the page using a UHU Stic. Once the glue had dried, I distressed areas of the decoupage paper by rubbing it with a baby wipe. Then I coloured these areas using a Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker, smudging the colour with my finger and I also outlined some of the cobwebs with a white Pentel Hybrid gel pen so they stood out more. Next I added the Halloween Tricks ‘n’ Treats images which are from two different sets of rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel. I added shadows under these images using a Cold Grey Faber-Castell Marker and Desert Spectrum Aqua Marker and also added more detail to them using a black Derwent Graphik marker and a white Pentel gel pen. To create the ground underneath the black cat and children images, I stamped a diamond design from Art Impressions at the bottom of the page using black Archival Ink, Sanguine Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink and white Docrafts Pigment Ink; layering the diamond pattern using these different inks on top of one another. As I liked Corrie‘s use of modelling paste on her page over at Country View Challenge, I added modelling paste to my page too using a Mini Squares stencil by Creative Expressions; I applied the Pébéo modelling paste using an old gift card and found it so much easier than using a palette knife. When the paste had dried I edged the page using a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker. Then to finish, I added the glittery flowers which are from Poundland and on the smaller flowers I exchanged the gemstone centres with red gems to tie into the colours that I’d used on the page.

As T Stands for Tuesday I’m sharing my cup of green tea and freshly homemade pumpkin roll filled with cream cheese frosting – what a “treat”, yum! I’m looking forward to chatting with all of the T Gang over a cuppa and wishing you all a Happy T Day!

Challenges

I’m glad I found out about Challenge Blogs as I enjoy taking part and meeting up with my blog friends. They also provide me with inspiration for my pages and are a wonderful way to meet like-minded arty people. So here are the challenges I’m able to join today:

The challenge over at Try it on Tuesday is “Its Halloween time” so I’m pleased to join this theme with my Tricks ‘n’ Treats page.

Over at Moo Mania & More it’s also Halloween time so I’m pleased to be joining their “Boo” theme too.

Allsorts Challenge Blog’s new challenge is “Halloween” so I’m joining their lovely design team with my Halloween inspired page.

With the autumnal colours on my page, I’m pleased to join the “Mixed Media with Autumnal Hues” challenge over at Country View Challenges.

As I used autumnal colours, I’m also joining in the fun over at A Vintage Journey and their “Crazy for Autumn Colour” challenge. My page focuses on their “Mixed Media” genre as I have used different mediums to create my Halloween inspired page and their “Art Journaling” genre as it’s my personal celebration of Halloween.

have always found this quote empowering so I thought I would create a page to share it with you for this month’s Art Journal Journey theme, which is “Poetry in Motion”, where you are asked to create a page inspired by a poem, quote or saying.

To tie into the quote, I masked off a large star shape and then I painted some distinctive vertical and horizontal lines using grey watercolour paint making sure that I kept the colour to the right-hand side of the page. Then I used a paintbrush to apply lots of fine splatters of the same grey and also some red watercolour paint; I concentrated the splatters on the bottom right-hand corner and fanned them out across the page like a star burst. Next I stamped an alphabet stamp by Kaisercraft and a star garland stamp by Craft Expressions using black Archival Ink and applied black and white acrylic paint splatters again. I used a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker to outline the star and then I removed the masking tape. Next I used the star garland stamp and black Archival Ink again to continue some of the star strands over the white star. The individual letters for the quote are cut from an alphabet paper sheet by Creative Sensations, they are stuck to the page using a UHU Stic and I outlined them with a black Uni Pin marker. To finish, I stuck gold outline stickers onto a sheet of paper from the same Design Pad by Creative Sensations, fussy cut them out and stuck them to the page with a UHU Stic along with some little gold star stickers.

I got the idea for the background splatters from some street art that we recently discovered in Blackpool . There are quite a few murals on the side of some buildings and we noticed that rather than leave one of the side walls plain the artist had painted the wall black, then masked it off in a geometrical design and applied lots of fine splatters of paint.

Here’s a close up view of the wonderful art that resulted when the masking tape had been removed – isn’t the texture amazing!

This is the main mural on the other side of the building, painted in 2015 it now looks a bit worn but the images and colours are fabulous.

This mural was on the building next door, I think this one was created as part of Blackpool’s “Sand, Sea & Spray 2016” urban art festival and the way the artist has created the light on the pretty ladies face and also the rain effect is stunning!

With new urban art pieces being installed along the Art Trail in St. Anne’s on the Sea, I thought I would join in and create my own piece. I know Lisca loves street art so I hope she enjoys this post and I would also like to thank Rike who was the first to introduce me to a technique using a straw which inspired part of my design. I’m also pleased to join the lovely Gill who is hosting the “Elegance and Grunge” theme over at Art Journal Journey.

I started by covering the page with Pébéo white gesso using a craft knife to create texture, then while the gesso was drying I added the blue circles by dipping a cardboard tube into Aquamarine water colour paint by Winsor & Newton and applying it to the page. Next came the technique inspired by Rike, I dripped a grey and a blue water colour paint on my page then blew the paint with a straw to create drip lines and starbursts, I really enjoyed doing this, it was great fun. I repeated all of these techniques a couple more times to build up the paint layers and textures until I got the look I wanted. Then I added some paint splatters using the same water colour paints and a paintbrush. Using black Archival Ink I stamped a frame onto the page and the little girl with her balloon onto a piece of grey paper from a Design Pad, both the stamps and paper are by Craft Sensations. I backed the grey paper image with a piece of card, cut it to match the inside of the stamped frame, edged it with a black Faber-Castell Big Brush marker and stuck it onto the page using a UHU Stic. To finish I added motivational wording which are rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel.

The St Anne’s Back West Art Trail is a series of urban street art installations along a back street in St. Anne’s on the Sea and this week we had 4 new additions displayed. The aim for this year is have up to 20 similar art works on display all over the town and there is talk of an Urban Arts Festival too. The photo is of a 12ft x 12ft piece by specialist urban artists Hayley Garner and Joy Gilleard, known together as Nomad Clan; it pays homage to the town’s history as well as the children and dogs that enjoy this seaside town.

The local stores who have access to the back of their buildings in this street also have art installations – my favourite is the bright green arch of Apple Bikes which was stenciled onto the wall itself.

Some storefronts are based on the street too, this pink building is a yoga studio, and features a bear looking out across the mountains.

This new installation of a whale by Nomad Clan is one of my favourites, isn’t it beautiful!

Whilst walking to Cockerham Sands from Glasson Dock, I was excited to see my first butterflies of spring and also discover the ruins of Cockersand Abbey which dates back to 1100s. Both of which inspired my page “New Beginnings”.

This page started with a mop-up background created from leftover paint and gesso from other art journal pages; firstly a blue green acrylic paint was applied that had semi-dried to my acrylic block, I sprayed it with water and dragged the block horizontally and then vertically across the page from left to right, as you can see the colour is stronger on the left hand side as a result. Secondly some grey Winsor & Newton watercolour paint was applied using a babywipe, and then some blue watercolour paint which was already diluted on my acrylic block so I dripped it onto my page and then dragged the acrylic block over the top, and I added fine paint splatters too. Next came some left over white gesso which I applied to the page with a spatula. I thought the texture on this page would work well for my design, so I added a Rocks stamp by Kaisercraft using black Archival Ink and also secondary stamped the same stamp to add more depth and texture. This reminds me of the wall and stone ruins that we saw at the abbey. The black flowers and leaves are rub-on transfers by Kaisercraft which I clustered and layered together, I really like the worn look of these transfers. The butterflies and wording are also rub-on transfers by Royal & Langnickel and to finish I added the three rhinestone flowers.

As my page captures the abbey and the butterflies we discovered, I’m pleased to be able to join Hazel who is hosting the “Magical Mystery Tour” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

Once at Cockerham Sands we decided to walk to Cockersand Abbey along the coastal path. The abbey now lies in ruins with its walls and stones scattered across the site. We found out that originally a hospital was built here in 1180 for the sick and lepers and that this hospice was continued by the Premonstratensian White Canons who built their priory here in 1190. It was built on a clay “island” and its medieval name was “S. Maria de Marisco” or “Saint Mary of the Marsh”. As the priory thrived it gained the rank of abbey. Then came Henry VIII’s Reformation, and so in 1539 the abbey was dissolved and although it was sold to John Kitchen who then gave the land to his daughter when she married Robert Dalton, it has lied in ruins ever since.

The only building remaining is called Chapter House which for many years was used as a mausoleum for the Dalton family. We really enjoyed looking around the abbey ruins, it’s such a beautiful place with views out to sea.

These are the beautiful butterflies that we saw on our walk, the one sitting on a dandelion is a Small Tortoiseshell and the other basking in the sunshine is a Peacock butterfly. It seems that the seasons have changed and Spring is here!

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

Last weekend I went to Lytham Hall where there was a Winter Art Fair being held. There were over 50 different arts and crafts stalls and I had a great time chatting to the stall holders about their work. Most of the artists were local to this area and some of the money raised goes to help with Lytham Hall’s restoration.

I started by applying Winsor & Newton grey watercolour paint with a baby wipe, blending the colour so it was darker round the edges of the page. I toned this colour down by applying a thin layer of white gesso. Next I stamped grey snowflakes using London Fog Memento Ink all around the edge of the page to create a border in keeping with the winter theme. I used the same stamp to add small snowflakes intermittently around the border using blue Memento Ink. I then created a collage with the business cards that I had collected from the stall holders and a picture of Lytham Hall which I cut from a leaflet, sticking them to the page using a UHU Stic. I outlined them with a black fine line Uni Pin marker and then added the snowflakes which are stickers to enhance the winter feel. As the fair was busy I wanted to capture this by creating lots of things to look at on the page. I picked up a flyer advertising the fair, so I used this on the page too, along with “Hopeful and Glorious” who are the people running the fair. They are fussy cut, outlined with a black Sharpie and a Uni Pin marker then stuck to the page using double-sided foam tape. I also added some shimmer and shine to them using a Wink of Stella shimmer pen and glitter glue so they looked like the snowflakes had settled on them. To finish I added the blue glossy gel sticker dots and stars. I think this page captures the Winter Fair’s magic!

I particularly liked these 4 stalls, firstly a ceramic artist who makes fine porcelain and uses lace to pattern her items.

Secondly, an artist who uses a typewriter to create images – check out the video on her site, it’s an amazing way to create art!

And finally, this lady creates beautiful art pieces from fabrics on which she has printed her own photos, so each piece has a wonderful back story.

I was glad to be able to help support Lytham Hall, which was built in the 1750’s and was the home of the Clifton Family, on whose land our whole town was built. The building and remaining grounds fell into neglect and has now been bought for the benefit of the town and is slowly being restored.

I am also delighted to be able to share our lovely day out with everyone over at Art Journal Journey for this month’s theme “No face, no wings, no leaves but COLLAGE”.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

This page was inspired by all the questions and interest I had in my last post about Pumpkin Beer. As you can see these guys are having lots of fun in the pumpkin patch!

I applied a very thin layer of light red Winsor & Newton Cotman watercolour paint with a baby wipe and then sprinkled Colourcraft Brusho Crystals powder over the top. I used three colours of the Brusho powders, dark brown, orange and yellow, and spritzed them with water, and then I watched the magic as the colours exploded on the page. These Brusho powders are amazing; there are so many different effects you can create with them. Once dried I stamped leaf images using Archival Ink, then re-stamped them off-centre using Distress Inks to give them a ghostly appearance. I added the ghosts which are rub-on transfers I bought in the sale at a local craft store. To finish I applied Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink using an old plastic gift card and Uni Pin black marker to the edges of the page and some gold gem stones. This was a really fun page to create and makes me smile when I see the – BOO!

Thanks so much for all your interest in our pumpkin beer, we make beer throughout the year and pumpkin is one of our favourites. It’s subtly spiced and amber in colour with an ABV (alcohol by volume) of 5.2%. To answer some of your questions, it takes around 6 hours to make and 6 weeks until it is ready. This time we made 40 UK pints (that’s 50 US pints) and it will be ready in a couple of weeks, although it does improve with a little ageing – if it lasts that long! In the meantime I did manage to find a photo from last year, as you can see I always coat the rim of the glass it is served in with sugar and cinnamon – yum! Our inspiration for this beer comes from our holiday visits to America as pumpkin beer is readily available in the fall, unlike here in the UK. That’s why we get so excited when pumpkins are available in our stores as we can start to make our own pumpkin beer.

One of the reasons we enjoyed our American holiday so much was the many pumpkins on display at farmers markets, farm stalls and just around town. It’s always such a lovely time of year to visit!

With this month’s theme “Indian Summer – Golden October – Autumn”, I’m delighted to be able to join Valerie over at Art Journal Journey.

I’m also pleased to join the Halloween Party challenge over at Moo-Mania.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page:

I find Autumn is so inspiring with all its different shades of gold, orange, red, brown and yellow. I love this season and I’m pleased to be able to join Valerie’s “Indian Summer – Autumn – Golden October” challenge over at Art Journal Journey.

To start I stippled areas of white gesso over the page using a paint brush. I then added apricot and parchment Liquitex acrylic paint using a palette knife and added some grey watercolour paint, blending all of these paints together using a baby wipe. I stamped leaf images with Royal & Langnickel stamps using Faber-Castell Big Brush marker ink, and then flicked some of their sanguine ink which I had diluted with water onto the page. Next I tore three strips of decoupage paper and stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic. The image of the beautiful lady is the packaging from the decoupage paper and I arranged the image so it looks like she is leaning back onto a wall or pillar. I stamped the quote onto tissue paper using Archival Ink and stuck it to the page using a UHU Stic, when the glue had dried I coloured it with a Spectrum Aqua Marker and outlined it with diluted Big Brush marker ink using a paint brush. I added the flower embellishments using a Zig Memory glue pen to her hair and cascading down the page with the leaves.

I love flower arranging and in my hall we display a different homemade wreath every season. I never tire of seeing these beautiful autumn leaves.

Thanks for joining me today! If you have any questions or comments, I would love to hear from you.

Here is a list of all the materials used to create this art journal page: